Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to inaugurate a host of development projects, including the Mini Vidhana Soudha, in Aland on Sunday.
Addressing a media conference here on Tuesday, B.R. Patil, MLA from Aland, said that Ministers Kagodu Timmappa, Sharanprakash Patil, Priyank Kharge, M. Krishnappa, Eshwar Khandre and Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge would participate in the event. He said that 26 projects worth ₹ 110 crore would be inaugurated on the day.
The Chief Minister would also inaugurate the Samatha Loka Shikshana Samsthe, an educational trust led by Mr. Patil, and unveil the statue of socialist reformer Jayaprakash Narayan on the trust’s premises before addressing a public gathering at the Government Junior College on the same day.
Honour
Mr. Patil said that the Chief Minister would be felicitated on the occasion to thank him for announcing various development initiatives for Aland constituency in the budget.
“Irrigation projects such as diverting the Bhima waters to the Amarja reservoir and allocation of ₹ 60 crore for recharging groundwater table are important initiatives towards addressing the water crisis in the arid Aland constituency. We, on behalf of the people of the constituency, will felicitate Mr. Siddaramaiah for these projects,” Mr. Patil said.
For Lingayat religion
To a query, Mr. Patil said that he held that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are different. He said that he supported the demand for independent religion tag for Lingayat.
“Veerashaiva sect detached from the Hindu fold to identify itself as an entity. Then, Lingayats, led by Basaveshwara and other social reformers in the 12th century, fought superstitions and caste hierarchy within the Hindu and Veerashaiva streams and identified themselves as a distinct community,” he said.
He added that the future course of the agitation to get independent religion status for Lingayat would be finalised at a meeting scheduled for Thursday in Bengaluru.